Patchogue Mom Drove Drunk With Son In Car: Suffolk Sheriff

Patchogue NY

19 March, 2022

10:21 PM

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PATCHOGUE, NY — A Patchogue woman was caught driving drunk with her 10-month-old son in her car near the Long Island Expressway on Saturday, according to Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon's office. Deputies stopped a car on North Ocean Avenue, south of the Long Island Expressway, after it failed to maintain its lane of travel just after midnight on Saturday, Toulon's office, said, adding that the driver, Maria Carballo, 29, was found to be intoxicated. Carballo's 10-month old son was found in the rear of the car and Carballo was arrested under Leandra's Law with a charge of driving while intoxicated, as well as endangering the welfare of a child, Toulon's office said. Carballo consented to a blood test and the results are pending with the Crime Lab, according to Toulon's office. The infant was released into the custody of his father who came to the scene and the vehicle was impounded as evidence, Toulon's office said. Leandra's Law, or the Child Passenger Protection Act, makes it an automatic felony on the first offense to drive drunk with a person 15 years old or younger inside of a vehicle. It was named after 11 year-old Leandra Rosado, who was killed on the Henry Hudson Parkway on Oct. 11, 2009, as the passenger in a crash involving a car driven by a driver who was allegedly driving while intoxicated. Toulon commended his deputies on Saturday afternoon. "Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs are out patrolling our county's roads to keep the public safe. In this case, they not only prevented an intoxicated driver from causing an accident with another driver or a pedestrian, but they potentially saved the life of an infant in the vehicle," he said. "I am proud of their ongoing vigilance in protecting the residents of Suffolk County."